Pneumatic fire-escape.



No. 725,964. 1 PATENTBD APR.21,1903,

1. HOGBLAND. PNEUMATICI. PIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 14, 1901.

N0 MODEL.

NITED STATES TPATENT -lFFICE.

ISRAEL HOGELAND, OFINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, lBIFMESNEASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF TOi ADALINE P. CAMPBELL, OF INDIAN- APOLIS,INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,964, dated April21, 1903. Appnoouon fnod ootober 111, 1901.Y sonal No. 78,552. Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Beit known that I, ISRAEL HOGELAND, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, haveinventednew and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Fire-Escapes, ofY

which the following 4is a specication.

useful improvements in an apparatus which may be used -not only as afire-escape, but

also may be employed as an elevator in buildings; and it consists of aseries of verticallyextending telescoping or extensible tubespneumatic'ally operated to be extended to elevate a platform, car, orcrib, which latter is secured on the top ends of and supported by saidextensible tubes, as hereinafter set forth, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a portable apparatus by meansof which people may be rescued from burning buildings with both safetyand despatch andf'to p'ro'# vide an apparatus that will bedurable,vsafe,. and easily operated-under all conditions of Weather. Iattain these objects by means of the apparatus illustrated'inV theaccompanying drawings, in whichsimilar letters of refseveral'views. f Y

erence designate l like' parts thr'ough'out the Figure'l is a sideelevational View of Inyi pneu-matic elevatoror' rey'escape, showing thesameplacedin positionin fr ont of abuildj, ing. Y Fig. 2 is van enlargeddetail sectional View of the packing-jointof the 'telescoping tubes.Fig. 3 is a plan diagram view of the telescoping tubes, showing thebranch or feed pipes'co'nnected'to the said tubes'. FigJL'is an enlargeddetail view of one of the ends of the tube-braces, showing the meansl'whereby said braces are secured to their telescoping tubes; and Fig. 5is a detail perspective view of a removable gangway which is `providedfor the Vpurpose-of forming a means of passage from the crib or platformof the elevator to a building.

A series of three, four, or more-preferably four-vertically-extendingbase-tubes B' are permanently secured in parallel relation to each otherand atl their proper or fixed distances 4apart by the upper and lowertie or brace bars L and L.V The series of tubes B' are capped orotherwise plugged at their bottom or base ends and open at their topends to receive the telescoping tubes B2. The telescoping tubes B?,which are equal in number My invention relatesto certain new and to thetubes B', telescope into the latter tubes,

`andthe said tubes B2 are maintained at their proper distances apart andin parallel relation to each other 'by the upper or top braces -ortie-bars L2, and, similarly, into-these latter tubesB2 the tubes B3enter and telescope, and these latter are also connectedat their topends by the ties or brace-bars L3, andfinally the telescoping tubes B4,Which are closed or capped at their top ends and open Vat their base orbottom telescoping ends,'enter and telescope into the' latter tubes B3,and said tubesBtarey also connected at their top ends by the braces orktie-bars L4 similarly to the tubes -BBZ B'and for the same purpose.

Packing-valves K (see'Fig.A 2) aresecured on eachof the open base ortelescoping ends of the telescoping-tubes B2, B3, and'B4 and areprovided for the purpose of securing airtight joints between the outerand inner surfaces of the Vpairs'of telescoping tubes B' and B2, 4B2 andB3, andlBSV and B4 to prevent a leak- -age orescape of the air 'orfluid-therethrough. Tle" braces orvtie'bars L, L',"L2, L3, and L4 eachhavetheirendsformed to encircle and embrace one half of fthecircumference 'of each of the telescopingv tubes to which they areconnected, and a similarly-formed clampingcap N encircles the other halfof the tubes and is secured -to each ofthe ends of eachbf 'said bracesordti bars by their clamping or securing bolts O', O2, and O3, by meansof which latter said cap is drawn up toward the clamping, end of thebrace to tightly clamp the telescoping tube tohold said bracessecurelyinposition.y A'crib or other suitably-railed-in platform or carT, provided with a closing-gate T', is secured on the top ends of thetop telescoping tubes B4, and the said crib is provided for the purposegers from a high place or building to the ground. A storage-tank C, intowhich air is pumped and compressed to a suitable pressure for use inoperating the hoist or lire-escape, is secured permanently in positionbetween the base telescoping tubes B and to the latter. The distributingor feed branch pipes E are connected at their outer ends to the lower orfixed base telescoping tubes B' at the base ends of the latter, (seeFig. 3,) and said distributing-pipes converge to a central point toconnect with the three-way valve F, which latter is connected to thestorage-tank C. lVhen the entire series or system of telescoping tubesare telescoped to lower the crib or platform T to its bottomposition-that is, closed up-the said crib will be still elevated aconsiderable distance above the ground and not within easy access, andin order that the said crib may be easy of access I provide a suitableladder X, which is permanently secured to the supportingtruck A, andsaid ladder is extended upwardly to a height to conveniently reach saidcrib T when the latter is at its lower or bottom position.

The entire mechanism constituting the elein dotted lines in Fig. 1.

vertical position to a horizontal position, or vice versa, I provide thepneumatically-operated oscillating cylinders D and D', which arepivotally mounted at their central portions orat a point intermediatetheir ends by any suitable means to the truck A and which have the endsof their piston-rods connected to the wrist-pin Z, which latter may besecured to the side of the storage-tank C or to the base pipes or tubesB by any suitable connections, so that when it is desired to elevate theelevating mechanism from a horizontal position to a vertical positionair under pressure is admitted into the cylinder D to force itspiston-rod outwardly to swing said elevator mechanism on its hinge-rodU, during which movement of said piston the opposing piston of thecylinder D is moved inwardly to compress the air confined therein to anextent to form a cushion in said cylinder, and thereby prevent thetoo-rapid movement of or excessive jar to the mechanism.

The stop-rods M', M2, and M3 are adapted to freely lit and to slide insuitable guideways or holes drilled in the pairs of braces L and L2,L2and L3,L3 and L4,and the said stoprods are each of a length that whenthe said telescoping tubes are fully extended the end heads or stopswill contact with the braces through which said rods pass to prevent anyfurther movement or extension of said telescoping tubes to separatethem.

A crank-handle Q is secured on the valvestem of the valve F and isprovided for the purpose of operating said valve F by an operatorstanding either on the ground or on the truck A.

A vertically-extending telescoping or extensible tubular shaftconsisting of thesections H', H2, H3, and H4 is journaled in thebearings H, formed in the prolonged ends of the braces L L2, L3, and L,and on the top end of the top section H4 of said shaft is secured thecrank-handle P, by means of which said shaft is rotated. The verticalextensible shaft is connected to the valve-stem of the valve F by thebevel-gears G, by which means the latter shaft is turned simultaneouslywith said vertically-extensible shaft, and thus the said three-way valveF may be manipulated by an operator standing in the crib T by means ofthe crank P. One or more hose-pipes, as S, may be lashed to thecrib-railing and elevated therewith to be used by a fireman or otheroperator.

Any suitable extensible brace, as I, having a binding-bolt J, may beemployed to brace the elevator when the latter is fully extended and inits vertical position to secure stability.

Any suitable gangway, as Y, may be provided for the purpose of forming apassageway from the crib T to a building, and the application of thesame is shown in Fig. 1 and needs no particular explanation.

Having thus fully described this my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United Statestherefor, is-

1. In a pneumatic fire-escape, the combination with a truck, of a towerarranged thereon and comprising a series of vertically-extendingtelescopic tubes, a crib-or platform arranged at the upper ends of saidtubes and adapted to be moved thereby, a source of compressed aircarried by the truck, a distributing and controlling valve connected tosaid source, pipes connecting said Valve with said tubes, whereby thelatter are supplied with the compressed air for operating the crib orplatform, and a telescopic shaft arranged at the side of said tower andhaving its upper end extending to the crib or platform and its lower endconnected to said distributing and controlling valve, said shaft beingprovided with means to eect its operation from the crib or platform,whereby the distributing and controlling valve may be operated from thecrib or platform when the latter is either in motion or at rest.

2. In a pneumatic fire-escape, the combination with a truck, a towerarranged thereon and comprising a series of vertically-extendingtelescopic tubes, said tower being,r hinged to said truck, whereby thetower is adapted to be folded on the truck when not required for use,and means connected to said tower IOO for swinging the same, of a cribor platform arranged at the upper ends of said tubes and adapted to bemoved thereby, a source of compressed air carried by the truck, adistributing and controlling Valve connected to said source, pipesconnecting said valve with said tubes, whereby the latter are suppliedwith the compressed air for operating the crib -or platform, and atelescopic shaft arranged ro at the side of said tower and having itsupper end extending to the crib or platform and

